Arsenal: Alexis Sanchez tasked with following up Crystal Palace

Alexis Sánchez was back at his best against Crystal Palace, but how can the Arsenal man follow up that performance with an encore?

Alexis Sánchez has not been on the same form as he was last season for Arsenal. The Chilean finished with 24 goals and 10 assists in his massive 2016/17 campaign. This season he has seven goals and three assists halfway through the season.

Performance of the season

However, against Crystal Palace on Thursday, he was looking like the same player from the last campaign. He was making killer through balls, winning the ball back all over the pitch, and most importantly finding the back of the net. He played a huge role in all three goals.

For Arsenal’s first goal, Alexis won a header that kept the danger alive in the box. The ball eventually found its way to Shkodran Mustafi who finished well.

Related Story: Arsenal vs Crystal Palace Player Ratings

For the second goal, he finished cleverly with a first time hit. He had won another header prior to his strike that led to his goal.

The third goal came via a ball over the top from Jack Wilshere, which Alexis controlled brilliantly and finished to grab his second goal.

He was tracking back the entire game and was not giving up the ball as much as he has been this season. He wasn’t dwelling on the ball either, instead he was moving it quicker, which made for some exciting patterns of play from the Gunners.

Alexis and Mesut Özil seemed to have a better connection for this game as well, as they were reading each other well when making runs. Alexis could have ended the game with a couple of assists as well. He gave Özil two tremendous balls that his German teammate failed to convert.

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Will it continue?

Alexis had a run of good form earlier in the season, as he scored three games in a row against Tottenham, Burnley, and Huddersfield. However, after that game his form dropped again. He went scoreless in four straight games and only managed one assist in that stretch.

His performance against Palace, though, was his best of the season. He also wasn’t trying to dribble through everyone. This performance against Palace reminded me of the Alexis from last season.

Even his other good performances this season didn’t have me saying he’s back. This was due to him giving the ball away often in these matches and not creating as much for himself and others, which he did all last season. Alexis still gave the ball up far more than he should have (he was dispossessed seven times alone), but he made up for it.

Next: 5 Things Learned Against Crystal Palace

Hopefully Alexis can build from this performance and find the same form that had us screaming, “Alexis Sánchez Baby”, all last season. It would be a shame if Arsenal lost their star left winger in January and we would not be able to see the Chilean’s relentless work ethic week in and week out.